One of the problems I think we all run into is that many (most?) people outside IT already think we're already specialists: computers. If a computer is in any way part of the job, somehow that makes us an expert in the job. Windows, Mac, Linux; servers, workstations, dumb terminals; smartphone, feature phone with a browser; network cabling, switches, routers; databases, cameras, phone systems, accounting systems, video post-production, every single feature of every application installed on every system.

And it's not just my mom or some random dude I met at a party. Most of my managers have had trouble understanding that developer and Photoshop guru are different let alone developer and DBA.